I love the smell of wood-fires in the afternoon. It smells like . . . October.

[janradder]

This afternoon we drove over to a local garden center for pumpkins. The air was cool but not too crisp and the sun felt warm, bringing out the now fading and and falling colors of the trees. As we walked through aisles of pumpkins, I could smell that someone had a fire burning nearby. haddayr , as she usually does , looked for an interesting pumpkin, which meant that it had an unusual shape or was in some way scarred. I looked for a pumpkin that was large enough to carve easily. There was an interesting juxtaposition of criteria the boys used in choosing their pumpkins. Arie, as I did when I was his age, looked for the biggest pumpkin he could find. He went from gourd to gourd, comparing sizes until he found the right one. Éiden, on the other hand, wanted a pumpkin that was small enough that he could carry himself. He chose one just smaller than his head and carried it proudly to our cart (and later to the house). The pumpkins sit on our porch now, until next weekend when we'll carve them. Next up: decorating the house, which the boys have been nagging me to do for the past two days.

Comments

You forgot to add . . .

[haddayr.livejournal.com]

The juxtaposition between this year and last year: last year, I was staggering along, exhausted, utterly unaware of why I constantly felt like crap. We were tense, because Arie was not on his current medication and was liable to flip out at any moment (and there were a few near-misses and even one mini-fit).

I remember I looked enviously at the other families who were so relaxed and happy in the October sunshine with their kids, thinking, "oh, how nice for you that you can just relax and let the kids wander and look on their own. HOW FUCKING NICE FOR YOU."

This year, I was happily and energetically stumping along with my cane and we were relaxed in the knowledge that neither of the boys were going to flip out.

And they didn't.

Re: You forgot to add . . .

[sacwentie.livejournal.com]

God help the two of you if there are no pictures of the boys carrying their pumpkins.

Re: You forgot to add . . .

[janradder.livejournal.com]

Again, I'm not the person with the flickr account.

Re: You forgot to add . . .

[haddayr.livejournal.com]

Oops. That was me. As I said: we didn't, but it's not too late, you threatening wretch.

Re: You forgot to add . . .

[janradder.livejournal.com]

You're right.

[xjenavivex.livejournal.com]

We carve pumpkins every year.

[janradder.livejournal.com]

I'm kind of excited this year because I think Arie finally has the skill to draw the face he wants on his pumpkin (last year he did not).